Updates! Updates! Glorious updates!

Last couple days have actually been quite fun, filled with different kinds of activities. We took advantage of the hurricane aftermath and played real mudball one evening. Friggin' awesome! Full tackle, head-first slides through puddles, throwing mud at each other. Gotta love it!

Chris and I went to Wooster St. out by Uconn last night to all you can eat wings and pizza. Pizza was okay, wings were really really good. I also went with one of my friends back to his farm to test shoot a .22 rifle. Wasn't as loud as expected, but it was great to get some target practice with a low-power gun. It still amazes me, however, how easy it is to get guns and ammo in this country.

Did my programming for the Express 125 yesterday, polished it after class today. I have to say, it is the easiest console I have ever touched, and some of you may know that we used a 12-channel Zero88 for the first years. Also, got an A+ on my dimmer project, which I'm kind of satisfied with.

Now, lots of homework this week, so there might not be another entry before Thursday's picks are posted. As always, be safe...

NFL Sunday

As you may have noticed, my picks this week are not holding up at all. Great game at the Meadowlands though, lots of action, lots of points.

Update: Anquan Boldin was just carted off after an insane helmet-to-helmet blow...the replay looked scary. We are hoping for the best, and that the ambulance was just a precaution. More later...

Paul Newman

Just read on a website that legendary actor and Academy Award Winner Paul Newman died after battling cancer. One of the finest actors ever to have lived.

Week 4 picks

Zip City Week 4 Picks, brought to you by 2 half-pound blue-cheese burgers from WholeFoods. Wow. Meaty. Full.

This is the first week of the season with teams not playing (not counting the involuntary bye week of the Texans and Ravens in Week 2) so there will be fewer games to pick, fewer games to bet on. I am trying something different this week, with the spread being written just next to the team I'm picking, since the spread is always the same both ways, either with a plus or a minus. if you don't like it, let me know and we'll go back to ye olde sweet style. Here goes...

Arizona
@ New York
The second east-coaster in a week for Kurt Warner and co. Brett Favre is limping and I am definetely not sold on this Jet defence. This has gunslinging written all over it, so be careful. I'm taking the points in this matchup.
Pick: Arizona +1.5

Green Bay
@ Tampa Bay
Should be a pretty interesting game with both teams fighting for first place in their respective divisions. Green Bay's defence looked flat against the Cowboys, but Joey Galloway is very questionable for the second week in a row.
Pick: Green Bay +1.0

Minnesota
@ Tennessee
Not playing this one. Nu-uh. No way.
Pick: Tennessee -3.0

Cleveland
@ Cincinnati
The winner will be 1-3. The loser, 0-4. Last year they ripped each other for nearly a thousand yards of offence in the first game. Cincinnati had a decent showing against NYG last week, and the feeling is that they can continue to build upon that.
Pick: Cincinnati -3.5

Atlanta
@ Carolina
(Note: I originally posted this pick the other way around, but decided to change it after 5 minutes or so. Carolina lost to the Vikings last week.) The battle for NFC South supremacy! Wow! Shocking! Atlanta is resting neatly next to Carolina with a 2-1 record. Still, the Falcons beat two lousy teams, Carolina actually upset San Diego 3 weeks ago. We'll see if this Panthers team can handle a inferior divisional foe at home.
Pick: Atlanta +7.0

Houston
@ Jacksonville
What an ending to the Colts-Jax game last week! Jacksonville, literally, with their season on the line (well, 0-3 means that you still can go 13-3, but you can never bet on a 13-game win-streak. Like the Pats last year, that was an anomaly). Now, the Jaguars can gain ground on Tennessee by beating two teams from their division in back-to-back weeks. And Houston has looked awful so far. I was never quite sold on them, but to be honest, I did not expect them to be this bad by Week 4.
Pick: Jacksonville -7.5

Denver
@ Kansas
Pick: Denver -9.5

San Francisco
@ New Orleans
To quote mr. Simmons: Do we like JT? I'm not sure, but I don't think the Saints can cover here.
Pick: San Francisco +5.5

Buffalo
@ St. Louis
Pick: Buffalo -8.5

San Diego
@ Oakland
Must-win last week for the Bolts too. They should be able to keep the train going this week against Oakland, where Al Davis and Lane Kiffin haven't spoken in almost a year. By the way, and I missed this a couple weeks ago; good choice by Shawne Merriman to have knee surgery. I don't like him, but I respect his talents and I would hate to see him not being able to play any more because of a busted knee.
Pick: San Diego -7.0

Washington
@ Dallas
Please don't let me down now, Jason Campbell. I believe in you!
Pick: Washington +10.5

Philadelphia
@ Chicago
Pick: Philadelphia -3.0

Baltimore
@ Pittsburgh
Flacco is getting five-and-a-half on the road. Take the points and hope he doesn't throw to many interceptions.
Pick: Baltimore +5.5

Bye: Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, New England, New York, Seattle

Last week: 6-9

Season: 23-21

Water!

I just realized I haven't had a workout in weeks! That 10 minutes of running nearly killed me. I gots to get back into shape. But it's good to get started at least. Tomorrow we're doing exercises for strength, wish me luck.

September is really nice here in Willi, today was yet another bright and sunny day, and I could easily have done my running in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Yesterday was Tuesday, officially known as "25cent Wing-day" (that's a joke for you, Christian!) at Blarneys. Chris, Brian and me went down with some of Brian's friends and we rocked the place with our pitchers and good looks. And, I didn't miss class today either! I got my Monty Python DVDs last week, so lonely evenings are gonna be a bit more fun. Well, four of them anyway.

No picks today, we'll save them for tomorrow's entry.

Gone runnin'

Got to get some movement in this old body. I'll check back later tonight, maybe with this weeks picks. Haven't decided yet if they are due today or tomorrow.

Crimson

I think it's safe to say that Sunday didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. I am now stuck with a ridiculous sunburn and a bad experience combined with a great one. The loss was obviously not what we wanted. But we had fun driving up to Foxboro, tailgating, having GREAT seats, and more tailgating afterwards. All that was missing was a W for our boys. Buffalo now leads the division at 3-0. Needless to say, I'm still pretty pissed, but I would like to thank the rest of the guys, we were eight in total. Loved tailgating and bitching about the game with you guys.

In other news, my art class today consisted of cutting paper, then folding it in half and cutting patterns. Fold it out again and et voilá! We have a symmetrical shape-thingy. You then glue said thingy to a piece of white paper. Instant art, just add scissors and paper and glue! Kinda made me feel like I was back in kindergarten.

The reason for the heading on this post is because I was listening to the theme from Crimson Tide whilst writing. And because I can't think of anything else to put there. For the record, I am now listening to Waltzing Matilda. Love that song.

Gotta go write journal entries, later!

Contest!

"She's built like a steak house, but she drives like a bistro!"

Where o where is this marvellous quote from? Know the answer? Send me an email and you can win a spectacular prize!

Week 3 Picks

Just what you have been waiting for all week long:

Arizona +3.0
@ Washington -3.0
I like this Cardinals team, but Jason Campbell did a nice job against New Orleans last week. Take the points and Kurt Warner.
Pick: Arizona

Cincinnati +13.0
@ New York -13.0
Poor Cincinnati. 0-2, going on a third straight loss. Carson Palmer is not his self from 3 years ago, Chad Ocho Cinco couldn't score in the Red Light district and their defence is a mess.
Pick: New York

Oakland +9.5
@ Buffalo -9.5
Them Bills are looking pretty good. I'm putting this down now, Buffalo will make the playoffs.
Pick: Buffalo

Kansas City +5.0
@ Atlanta -5.0
Pick: Atlanta

Houston +5.0
@ Tennessee -5.0
The Kerry Collins experiment is working down in Nashville, and Houston had an involuntary bye-week. Chris Johnson will run all over Houston, but Matt Schaub may be able to sling it enough to make it close.
Pick: Houston

Tampa Bay +3.0
@ Chicago -3.0
Pick: Tampa Bay

Carolina +3.5
@ Minnesota -3.5
The Vikings benched Tarvaris Jackson for Gus Frerotte. Carolina moves to 3-0, while the Vikings, a sexy pick before the season, is in the dreaded hole of 1-2-ness.
Pick: Carolina.

New Orleans +5.5
@ Denver -5.5
Should be a good game, hopefully it will be a close one. These teams both have issues on the defensive side of the ball, so I'm going to go with the points on this one, and hope that the Saints D steps it up a notch.
Pick: New Orleans

Detroit +4.0
@ San Francisco -4.0
This is a dangerous game. On one side, we have the 49ers, the team that beat Seattle a week ago, but still gave up almost 30 points. On the other hand, you have Detroit, the nearly-come-from-behind-victory 2 weeks in a row. I am not sold on either team, so I will not put money on this one.
Pick: San Francisco

St. Louis +9.5
@ Seattle -9.5
Divisional matchup in the crappiest division.
Pick: St. Louis

Pittsburgh +3.5
@ Philadelphia -3.5
Pick: Philadelphia

Cleveland +2.5
@ Baltimore -2.5
The Browns looked like that (get it?) against Dallas, and a bit better against Pittsburgh. Baltimore played solid against the hopeless Bungels so we won't know about them yet. Clevelands defence is still a mess, so take the Ravens at home.
Pick: Baltimore

Jacksonville +5.0
@ Indianapolis -5.0
Pick: Indianapolis

Dallas -3.0
@ Green Bay +3.0
The Battle for NFC-supremacy? Maybe. It's gonna be a great game no matter what. I'm not sure who to pick here, but I like Green Bay's defence enough to make it a close one.
Pick: Green Bay

New York +9.0
@ San Diego -9.0
Which of these teams do I hate the least? Hard to say, but San Diego is in deep, deep trouble if they lose this game. I don't know which unit is worst: the Charger defence or the Jet offence.
Pick: New York

Last week: 8-6

Season: 17-12

My first A

Classes are coming along great, pciking up some speed and diving more into different topics. I got an A on my adapter-cable for theatre class, which I'm pretty satisfied with. Today we started with the dimmer project, and that will be finished next week. I'm trying to catch up on some journal-entries for HPE, as I think I am missing one or two. Shouldn't be a problem though.

As you all know, St. Patrick's day is the 17. of March. So last night I went to Halfway to St. Patrick's at Blarneys. Chris and myself bought a couple of pitchers of green beer and, well, it was hard getting up this morning, but I didn't miss class! Proud of me mom? :)

I will be attending this weeks Patriot game at Gillette, so there will be no halftime updates this Sunday. Picks for Week 3 are due a bit later today, but probably not before 11pm CEST.

Tell me why! I don't like Mondays?

As most of you know by now, the Houston vs. Baltimore game has been postponed until November, so that game is off the picks for this round.

Had my first real art class today, and I think I'm going to struggle mightily with this one. The instructor is okay, but I've never had a hand for drawing, so I might have to work my ass off for the C- in this course. I'm learning new stuff though, which is what university is all about, right?

If there are any loyal readers here, I would like to hear from you, what you want to read about in this little typo of mine. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Leave a comment or send me a message. Yours humbly, Eddie.

Richard Wright

Mr. Wright died today at the age 65. He will be dearly missed by fans all across the globe..."and after all, we're only ordinary men"...

First half

I do not know what to make of the first half of the Pats@Jets game. There were some good, some not so good, and some bad. We'll see what BB can cook up during halftime.

New Yahhk

I'm supposed to go on this trip to see a Met game in about 30 minutes or so. Pedro was pitching, but since they postponed last night, I'm not sure how they play it. Should be fun though, going to NYC for the first time.

Me and Brian went over to one of his friends house last night, and if you ever play beer pong with me, be advised. Apparently, I suck at beer pong. Still, we had a blast, and thanks to that, I'm running a little late now. Gotta go!

The last line

I stole the line from Bill Simmons of espn.com fame, just so that I could finish this today. And by the way, I was totaly wrong on the line going in favor of Baltimore. Anyway:

Baltimore +4.5
@ Houston -4.5
Simmons took the Ravens and the points, and I must say that I am tempted to do the same. But you never know with the Texans either. Plus, I like Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels.
Pick: Ravens

Ball

That's what we had last night, starting with some 100 proof and then going to the watery, see-through beverage known as American lager. Blarneys wasn't as packed as last time, and it only took me about 5 minutes to get my drink, which is not to bad. Music selection was solid, and I met a couple more friends inside. It was real hard getting up for 140 this morning, I'll tell you that.

So I'm taking this art class as part of the LAC, and I just came back with some of my supplies. I like the LAC, I think some Norwegian universities should incorporate it too, but the big downside is you have to buy books and supplies that you will only use for one semester. You can always sell your books, but I think it is difficult to sell a pad of Bristol paper that's half full...

Week 2 picks

Well I was out on a dive last night, so the Week 2 picks will be presented in Friday mode. Odds courtesy of expekt.com:

Chicago +3.5
@ Carolina -3.5
Carolina impressed me by beating the Chargers in San Diego last week, but the Kyle Orton Experiment actually worked in Chicago as the bears knocked off Peyton and the Pantsies. I think this line is a bit high as I think this game will be close.
Pick: Carolina

Indianapolis -1.0
@ Minnesota +1.0
Both these teams are coming off loses in Week 1, and this is probably why this line is so low. Had the Colts won against Chicago, the line would be more like +7.0 for the Vikings, who many picked to win the North this year (idiots, the Packers are still the team to beat, and I will be surprised if the Vikes make it past the Wild Card round). Peyton's Posse will take this one on the road and move up to 1-1.
Pick: Indianapolis

Oakland +3.5
@ Kansas City -3.5
Pick: Kansas City

Green Bay -3.0
@ Detroit +3.0
The Lions looked awful against the rebuilding Falcons, while Aaron Rodgers got his W against division rival Minnesota. The line is too low for this game, so this is probably this weeks lock for me.
Pick: Green Bay

Buffalo +5.5
@ Jacksonville -5.5
Intriguing matchup, as everyone (including me) thought the Jags were going to unseat Peyton this year. Now they are both 0-1, and Buffalo, surprisingly, beat the Seattle pretty good in Week 1. If the Bills can come away with a victory on the road against the Jaguars, they will be a serious contender in the AFC, while Jacksonville will be stuck in an 0-2 hole.
Pick: Buffalo

New York -7.5
@ St. Louis +7.5
As I checked my fantasy rosters today, I was happy to see that there are no Rams players on any of my teams.
Pick: New York

New Orleans -1.0
@ Washington +1.0
Pick: New Orleans

Tennessee +1.0
@ Cincinnati -1.0
How can you favor the Bungels after their below-lackluster performance in Week 1? The Titans may have lost VY for a couple weeks, but this will be an easy W for them against Ocho Cinco's crapfest of a football team.
Pick: Tennessee

Atlanta +7.0
@ Tampa Bay -7.0
This line is way too high for me to even consider playing. Michael Turner had a career day against Detroit, but Tampa's defense will not be that easy. Look for Brian Griese to out-gun Matt Ryan in this divisional meeting.
Pick: Atlanta

San Francisco +7.0
@ Seattle -7.0
Boring.
Pick: San Francisco

Miami +6.5
@ Arizona -6.5
I have always liked Arizona, and Miami still has Chad Pennington at the controls. Miami will be able to run the football, but they must sling it to win it.
Pick: Arizona

San Diego -1.5
@ Denver +1.5
When are the Chargers going to get their act together and play up to their potential? Maybe this week against division rival Denver, who ran over Oakland last week. I think this will be a good game, close to the end.
Pick: San Diego

Pittsburgh -6.0
@ Cleveland +6.0
If Cleveland can fix either their offensive or defensive side of the ball this week, then they might be able to beat Pittsburgh. Might be able to.
Pick: Pittsburgh

Philadelphia +7.0
@ Dallas -7.0
Line is of the charts, so I won't touch this one either. Should be a good game though, with a healthy McNabb slingin' it against Tony Romo Simpson. I hope the Eagles win, just because I hate the Cowboys more. But it's going to be close no matter who gets the W.
Pick: Philadelphia

The Baltimore-Houston game has been moved to Monday night, so there were no lines available at expekt.com. I will try to get that line in by tomorrow, but I'm thinking it will be around 3.5 in favor of Baltimore.

Last week: 9-6

Season: 9-6

Still going strong

Had my presentation today, in HPE-class, together with Adriana and Emily, and I think we did pretty good. I was a little skeptical at first, but Sara liked our presentation and we didn't read off cue cards or anything, which is good. We'll see how the grade turns out.

We hung around, doing nothing last night, which is no problem with kick-ass roommates. Haven't met alot of people yet, but it looks like we're all starting to get to know each other for real. I will say this, I feel I am in a lot of classes with people that are 3 or 4 years younger than me, so we'll see how that works out.

Picks for Week 2 will be in a bit later tonight!

Thoughts on week 1

I am listening to BBs press conference, and it is just confirmed that Tom Terrific will miss the rest of the 2008 season with a knee injury. There are no plans to bring in a veteran QB to compete for the starting job, so I guess this will be Matt Cassels team for the 2008 campaign. It really hurts to see someone on your favorite team go down like that, but we have to move on and keep our focus on the New York Bretts, whom we play this weekend.

In other NFL news, the team to beat this year is the Dallas Cowboys. They did not play a flawless game against Cleveland, but they still managed to win by 18. I also think that Buffalo played a great game yesterday, so it's possible it will be a three-horse race for the AFC East crown.

Not that...

I mind the Colts losing obviously...but they were supposed to run wild over Chicago. I'll have to get back to you on this...

WTF

The Colts just lost. The season opener. Against the Chicago Bears. At home. With Kyle Orton Qbing the Bears. WHAT THE F**K IS HAPPENING TODAY?

Pain and agony?

Multiple news outlets, including nfl.com is reporting that Tom Brady is done for the season with a torn ACL. Chris Simms is scheduled to visit Foxboro tomorrow morning. Shit.

Hurricanes and weekends

So we are suppose to experience the aftermath of Hanna this weekend. We had thunder and lots of rain last night, and now it is really humid outside. Just had brunch, and I will do some homework before going in to Hartford tonight.

For those of you who absolutely MUST know what my starting lineup is this weekend, I'll let you look at this:

QB
Drew Brees
WR
Randy Moss
Greg Jennings
Jabar Gaffney
RB
Maurice Jones-Drew
Earnest Graham
TE
Owen Daniels
K
Kris Brown
DEF
Jacksonville
D-players
Shaun Phillips
Rodney Harrison
Justin Tuck

Changes may occur, but for now, this is my team. I thought about playing Devin Hester instead of Gaffney, but I don't like the returners QB or the defence he's playing against. Plus Gaffney will get single-coverage the entire game. I chose Shaun Phillips over Jared Allen because I like GBs line better than Carolinas.

I'm sorry guys

I was too tired to do the picks on Monday, and yesterday I forgot. Todays picks are brought to you by expekt.com, my favorite site for online sports betting. I was hoping to a write-up on each pick, but I am not sure if I have the time. For this week at least, you will have to settle for the correct answers and no reasons. One last thing; I don't make picks for Patriot games.

Washington +4.5
@ New York -4.5
Pick: Giants

New York -3.0
@ Miami +3.0
Pick: Jets

Houston +6.5
@ Pittsburgh -6.5
Pick: Houston

St. Louis +7.5
@ Philadelphia -7.5
Pick: Philadelphia

Seattle +1.0
@ Buffalo -1.0
Pick: Seattle

Detroit -3.0
@ Atlanta +3.0
Pick: Detroit

Jacksonville -3.0
@ Tennessee +3.0
Pick: Jacksonville

Tampa Bay +3.5
@ New Orleans -3.5
Pick: New Orleans

Cincinnati -1.5
@ Baltimore +1.5
Pick: Cincinnati

Carolina +9.0
@ San Diego -9.0
Pick: Carolina

Dallas -4.5
@ Cleveland +4.5
Pick: Dallas

Arizona -2.5
@ San Francisco +2.5
Pick: Arizona

Chicago +9.5
@ Indianapolis -9.5
Pick: Indianapolis

Minnesota +2.5
@ Green Bay -2.5
Pick: Green Bay

Denver -3.0
@ Oakland +3.0
Pick: Denver